To Aru Majutsu No Index is the second series to premiere this season by the J.C.Staff, based on the original light novels by Kazuma Kamachi. The supernatural, action story is set in city of students, the one thing of course that sets these students apart is most have scientifically advanced powers. The main protagonist Toma Kamijo’s right hand is called The Imagine Breaker with which he can pretty much render all magic or psychic powers useless, sadly he does have one vice he suffers from extremely bad luck. Upon returning home he finds a strange girl hanging over the railing on his balcony. This girl turns out to be a nun from the church of England who is being pursued due to having the Index-Librorum-Prohibitorum implanted within her mind, or 103,000 magical texts that everyone wants to get their hands on.
What immediately strikes you about this series is the amazingly good animation production, the J.C Staff have really taken the effort to create a very believable and stylish world that looks amazing. The OP “PSI-missing” by Mami Kawada is very catchy although incredibly Shakugan No Shana in feel, it definitely contributes well to a stylish opening sequence. If you actually combined the J.C. Staffs two new series this season in a way you do pretty much get Shana. Of course besides the feeling akin to the show I previously mentioned ‘To Aru Majutsu No Index ‘ does have it’s own specific charm and manages to remain both engaging and comical, whilst still progressing with the plot at a relatively rapid rate and remaining pretty true to the original light novels and manga. The ED is equally as good as the OP with the song “Rimless~フチナシノセカイ~” by IKU and animation that hints at the deepening friendship between Toma and Index, although more subdued than the OP it works very well.
The series begins with Toma being chased through the streets after interfering with a situation he possibly wishes with hindsight he hadn’t even bothered with, after attempting to save the level 5 psychic Mikoto Misaka from a group of thugs, she offers him little gratitude for his efforts by attempting to fry him with her psychic lightning bolts. The following day Toma’s luck takes a turn for the worse finding a young girl slumped over his balcony dressed as a nun and complaining that she’s hungry, we then learn that she actually possesses the Index-Librorum-prohibitorun which consists of 103,000 magical volumes and is called strangely enough Index. Toma of course doesn’t believe her but offers Index a place to stay if she wishes, Index then claims she is being followed and it would be best for her not to say, so after being ‘attacked’ by cleaning robots she disappears. After another run in with Mikoto on the way home from school, Toma returns to his apartment to find Index lying outside badly injured and a shadowy figure appears behind them.
As a first episode To Aru Majutsu No Index was better than I expected, a really interesting, engaging and at times very funny series that I think has the right blend of everything to keep me watching this season. A great job from the J.C. Staff they have managed to pull off two extremely good series this season, even if they do echo their former successes. I must add I am extremely curious as to who the girl is in the OP with the long katana and the rest of the possible ‘villians’ look extremely interesting and each seems to have a unique quirk. A great action series and one of my not to be missed this season.
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